Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cauliflower Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the cauliflower
Trim and wash the cauliflower.
Cook the cauliflower in slightly salted water until tender.
Drain the cauliflower and let it cool.
Make the sauce
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of flour and cook for a minute.
Gradually add the milk and bring the sauce to a boil.
Let the sauce boil for 10 minutes.
Season the sauce to taste and add the grated cheese.
Assemble and bake
Shape the cauliflower and place it on a serving dish with a tablespoon of sauce underneath.
Pour the remaining sauce over the cauliflower.
Sprinkle the cauliflower with cheese and bread crumbs.
Dot the cauliflower with remaining butter.
Brown the dish in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cauliflower (in the method)
- Forms the bulk of the dish and turns tender when cooked in salted water.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and, dotted on top, helps the crust brown.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the white sauce, which thickens as it boils.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth white sauce.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and browns into a golden topping.
- Bread crumbs
- Forms a crisp, golden crust on top of the dish.
The step that matters
Let the sauce boil for 10 minutes. Flour only thickens fully when the sauce reaches a boil and stays there long enough to cook out its raw starch taste. Too brief a boil leaves the sauce thin and floury-tasting.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, pepper, cheese, bread):
- Thymefits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, pepper, cheese, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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